PISTONS & PIVOTS
Owen Foster's Character Rich Toyota 4Runner & Chromag Surface
Owen Foster is part of the OneUp Components team based in Squamish B.C. He joined in July 2016 as the second employee. Living above the office, his 'commute' was regularly completed in socks. You may not know his name, but if you’ve ridden in Squamish, there’s a good chance your tires rolled over Owen’s handy work. He’s an unassuming, genuine and low-key guy, passionate about bikes or anything else that he’s into. That passion is clear in his bike builds but leaves you wondering, what does he drive?
“Zombie” – Owen’s Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6
Owen’s current vehicle of choice is polarizing. It’s about as backwoods, gun toting, hillbilly hick as it gets, but he’s got his reasons. The ’95 4Runner SR5 is a head turner and possibly for the wrong reason but for Owen, it’s all about access. He’d owned a couple of late 80’s 4Runners “a lifetime ago” and has always had a soft spot for them. Owen is a keen explorer and wanted something capable with high clearance to take him on his backroad scouting missions. Zombie clearly fits the bill perfectly.
Zombie's Specs
- '95 Toyota 4Runner SR5 with moonroof/sunroof
- Purchased as is with exception to the rattle can paint job
- Alloy 15-inch rims painted with rubberized bed liner
- 35 x 12.5 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires with 15psi rear and 20psi front
- Mudflaps are a single semi-truck mudflap split in two and custom mounted
- 180,000 kms and "terrible on gas"
- It accompanied Owen on two BCBR tours around Discovery Channel, and up to Pemby
- Custom made hitch fabrication in place of bumper
- Reworked gearing to compensate for the mega tires
- Rattle can matte black spray paint
A lot of the modern 4x4 models look like jellybeans but 20 years ago they were the best looking vehicles out there. – Owen Foster
Until recently I had no commute (as in shoes optional). I now have about a 10km zip across town when I'm not bike commuting. Its way overkill and I often get WTF looks from soccer moms in their Porsche SUVs. It's good fun. – Owen Foster
Owen’s Custom Chromag Surface, “Sheena"
Like a lot of Sea to Sky riders, Owen has a couple of bikes. Sheena, his custom built and painted Chromag Surface is what he considers his forever bike. Sheena sees the most action during the winter months but isn’t left gathering dust through the warmer months. The bike is a Chromag Surface with a custom paint job and completely custom build that includes some really unique parts. From the Terrene tires to the MRP Ribbon fork and “Shigura” brakes, the parts have each been carefully selected to meet Owen’s demands.
Sheena's Specs
- Medium Chromag Surface (435mm reach)
- Custom painted Apple Red fade to Black Sparkle
- Custom cursive Chromag logo usually found on their softgoods
- MRP Ribbon fork
- Chromag touchpoints
- Shigura XT7 Brakes (Shimano XTR Master Cylinder & Magura MT7 caliper)
- We Are One Agent rims laced to red I9 Torch hubs with Sapim Race spokes and red nipples (thanks Dustin!)
- Shimano XTR cranks and derailleur
- 11/47 OneUp’d XT Cassette (18 and 47 OneUp sprockets)
- OneUp EDC tool in steerer and pump attached to bottle cage
- OneUp Dropper seatpost
- Terrene Chunk Tough 29 x 2.6 tires w/ Huck Norris DH in the rear
The focus of my obsession was the most unique and top spec. bike from small companies who I think are great. – Owen Foster
One neat—and financially dangerous—thing about building up a Made in Canada Chromag (Surface, Samurai, Primer, Nice Dreams) is the option of custom paint. – Owen Foster
Owen’s selection of vehicles is perfectly suited to his needs. His 4Runner may look as redneck as a souped-up ride-on lawn mower but for Owen, it serves a purpose. It’s enabled him to get out and explore the backroads around home, accessing areas that a nicer, or more regular model 4x4 may struggle with. Sheena is a better representation of Owen's personality and may be one of the most well put together bikes I’ve seen with my own eyes. The attention to detail is amazing and the versatility of the bike has it serving various duties in his quiver.
Comments
Geof Harries
5 years, 1 month ago
How about a profile of a dad in a mini-van full of kid crap with a 10-year old clapped out Stinky or Altitude strapped to the rear window?
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Pete Roggeman
5 years, 1 month ago
We will be taking reader submissions. Stay tuned.
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Vik Banerjee
5 years, 1 month ago
Nice truck! :)
I'm 10yrs into seasoning my F150 so it'll be as rad as Owen's truck in another 13yrs.
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Cam McRae
5 years, 1 month ago
You should probably sell/lend it to someone who will treat 'er mean for a few years and then reclaim it!
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Vik Banerjee
5 years, 1 month ago
It's paid for. I'm going to keep driving it until it's not economically feasible to keep it rolling. But, hey if you want to loan me your vehicle for a few years I'll beat on it and then give it back to you if you see that as a win. ;-)
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Cam McRae
5 years, 1 month ago
I'm not so into seasoning. My Taco will get seasoned enough with stinky mountain bikers etc.
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Morgan Heater
5 years, 1 month ago
Want to profile my prius next?
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Dan
5 years, 1 month ago
I've got a >300K Previa with a 1Up rack (and a Fork Up mounted inside). And my bike has pivots. Waiting for your call, NSMB. haha
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Morgan Heater
5 years, 1 month ago
My Prius has a Northshore rack, but my bike is completely lacking in pivots. Except for my knees.
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Pete Roggeman
5 years, 1 month ago
Pivots optional ;)
Post a sneak preview photo here, let's peep your Prius.
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Chad K
5 years, 1 month ago
Whoo! This makes me excited for rebuilding my 1994 Landcruiser. Got a few years before I'm ready to undertake the project, but I am already excited.
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dorkweed
5 years, 1 month ago
this man has his priorities right.
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Cooper Quinn
5 years, 1 month ago
That bicycle has a distinct lack of pivots, tho.
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earle.b
5 years, 1 month ago
Came down to the comments to point that out.
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Pete Roggeman
5 years, 1 month ago
You guys need to brush up on your dad-servations.
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Cam McRae
5 years, 1 month ago
Who needs hyper-literal 10-year old boys when we've got you two!
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AJ Barlas
5 years, 1 month ago
The next one serves double duty and will make up for it. 😉
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Velocipedestrian
5 years, 1 month ago
Do we need to Trust you on that?
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Cr4w
5 years, 1 month ago
And mixmatched brakes that I think an @AMajor would love.
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Timer
5 years, 1 month ago
People ascribe all kinds of magical properties to the Shigura brakes, even more power, better modulation, bite point, reliability....
But the reality might be that they are just more robust and cheaper replacements if the magura master cylinder breaks. ;-)
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AJ Barlas
5 years, 1 month ago
Entirely possible. But friends in Europe have been mixing Shimano levers with Magura brakes for ages. It’s only newer on these shores. 🙂
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OwenFoster
5 years, 1 month ago
It's all just so personal with stoppers isn't it?
I was advised to try Magura MT7s from a friend recovering the use of this arms after a C-spine injury, he found they had 'the most power for the least effort'
I found this true and the application of the clamp to the rotor really jived with me. A lot less on/off than typical Shimano yet more confidence inspiring than a sram dish sponge.
The issue was the levers. I found myself not a fan of the feel, material choices, durability, bleed porting or even the look / industrial design. Having a real love for Shimano brakes and the wanting to match the group for which I already had m9000 cranks, mech, chain and originally cassette (OneUp'd to 11-45) I purchased some M9000 trail levers and cut the MT7 levers loose.
I wouldn't ascribe magical powers to the hacked setup but I did immediately have the ability to cast spells on forest gnomes causing them to burst into chorus, have won the lottery 52 weeks in a row and last month I cracked the sky with a wink and a nod. Probably unrelated... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_experience
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Timer
5 years, 1 month ago
Entirely unrelated ...
BRB, going to the basement to craft shimano levers to my maguras while standing in a circle and chanting summons...
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zahgurim
5 years, 1 month ago
"Real 4runners have 2 doors!"
That said, nice setup!
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Bikeridenow
5 years, 1 month ago
Hillbilly hick? That's a little judgy. Is he supposed to drive a hybrid Rav4 like everyone else? Props to him for not trying to fit the sea to sky mold.
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cbennett
5 years, 1 month ago
Owen: "Look at my bike closely" ...probably
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Cooper Quinn
5 years, 1 month ago
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/fbbb2259-e731-435f-b737-ca056be18244
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cbennett
5 years, 1 month ago
Inside joke between Owen, Myself and ol' extra-carbon-wrap-Matt who'll hopefully be featured next on "Pistons and Pivots".
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OwenFoster
5 years, 1 month ago
Haha. Yes, Matt's set up is legendary as well for sure.
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Pete Roggeman
5 years, 1 month ago
Put us in touch?
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OwenFoster
5 years, 1 month ago
lol
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ExtraSpecialandBitter
5 years, 1 month ago
Why is the bike wet?
Were you taking pictures in the rain? Do you not own a rag? Was it hot and the bike was sweating from the stress of the photo shoot?
(sorry, pet peeve of mine)
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Pete Roggeman
5 years, 1 month ago
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